Sleeping Sun
by Aca Oni
Summary: Edward wakes up to find his body isn't what is used to be and he's in a new world. Paring: Alter!Roy and Femme!Ed Ch 4: Pansy!
1. Equivalent Proportions

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist

* * *

**Equivalent Proportions **

Edward was dimly aware of the world around him. The blackness had swallowed him up at long last but now it wanted to spit him back out again. He was becoming more and more aware of the dull roar of reality. In theory, death was silent. From all the noise, Edward guessed he wasn't as dead as he thought.

That array was to bring back Al, if it had worked, Edward would be dead right now but instead he was aching all over. His chest, lower stomach, even his hips were burning as if he had been stretched. Edward feared if he moved, he would pull not a muscle but every single fucking muscle he had plus a couple he didn't just for good measure. He was supposed to be dead after all; therefore he had no business moving but an annoying little voice in his head spoke up.

_Aw crap, I need to get up before someone finds me and decides to kick my ass. _

Ed had just that kind of luck too. Someone like Scar or even some bar thug who recognized his face would happen to stumble along this… place and beat him into a bloody pulp for no reason other than he was Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. It was in times like these he hated his popularity. There were very few places he could hide without stilts and a haircut.

A dull roar of a motor brought him back to the immediate situation. Somewhere in the deep bowels of his mind, Edward convinced himself it was time to get up. Now talking his body into going along with the plan would be another thing.

Edward pleaded and begged but his muscles weren't responding to his queues to move. Edward cursed in his head and tried to move his automail when a sudden burst of white hot pain rippled through his body faster than he could think. Edward was seeing stars behind his eyes lids and fought the wave of nausea washing over him. Damn the circuits connected to his nerves must be fried!

A voice somewhere above him spoke softly, but he was too dizzy to comprehend. He opened his eyes to see very blurry clouds and the face… of someone he once knew, but Maes Hughes is dead? Edward closed his eyes; maybe he had died after all.

* * *

For the second time in who knows how long, Edward woke up, still vaguely aware that he was no dead. Did that mean it didn't work? Was Al still trapped in the gate, waiting for Ed to save him? No, that didn't make sense. If that were the case, Edward would be dead as equivalence for his failure. The array had been perfect, so it had to have worked. So him being alive meant… something but his head was ringing too much to think straight.

Voices broke him out of his painful pondering. Edward opened his eyes slowly and waited for them to adjust. He was in a small, bare room. The dreary colours made him think it must be night out, but he could see sunlight through the window over a plain brown desk. He next noticed that he was lying down, covered up in a small bed. His body still burned all over, but Edward could move, grudgingly. He lifted his left arm with a groan, it wasn't broken but also wasn't happy to be moved either. Edward let it drop back under the covers.

_I guess I should check my automail while I'm at it._

Edward braced himself for the pain again and lifted his right arm. Not flash of nerve searing pain coursed thought him so he gave his fingers a wiggle. They too ached with the same over used pain as his left. He dropped the arm and froze. _My arm hurt. My ARM hurt. _Edward sat bolt upright despite the disagreeing of his muscles and looked at his hands. They were both flesh, flawless and perfectly matched. He threw aside the blanket and was overjoyed to see his legs too, matched.

The cool air from the room bit at his bare skin. For some reason it felt horrible strange and invasive. His chest was reacting more to the light breeze from the window than it should. His nipples were tingling, something they didn't normally do. Edward covered them with his palms and shuddered, another bizarre reaction. It was then, in that moment, that he felt something wrong, something horribly unspeakably wrong. His fingers cupped soft skin bulges that came out from his chest in round lumps.

_Holy fuck I have some advance swelling disease!_

Edward was a brave man No ill looking ailment could turn his stomach, not even one on his own body. Still cupping the protuberances, Edward looked down, removed his hands slowly and felt all the blood in his body turn to ice. They were breasts and looking down between them past his smooth stomach was a serious lack of—

"Holy Fuck! I've been robbed!"

Edward knew then, he was most definitely alive because no nightmare was cruel enough to strip him of his…identity like this.

* * *

Author's Note

This is just the prologue. Thank you for reading!

Oni


	2. I See London

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist

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**I See London**

Maes paced around the kitchen table. Damn he knew this was a bad idea, but he couldn't have just left her there, clothing shredded and spread throughout the alley. It was his civil duty as an officer of the law to help any and every damsel in distress, the only problem is, this was his first time. What was he supposed to do with her after scooping her out of the gutter? Bringing her home was out of the question. What would his co-workers think if they knew he was keeping some foreign girl in his home? They would think he was a pervert, that's what.

So Maes did the only thing he could think of, and was regretting it dearly.

"You can't just drop strays off at my house Officer Hughes." Miss Gracia Baum chided as she came back into her kitchen, towel in hand. On one hand Maes was thrilled she knew his name but the hard glint in her gentle eyes made him back up. Her normal sweet demeanour had vanished the moment she saw him carrying that poor girl to her doorstep and she switched into an aggressive mother bear. Within minutes a hot bath was poured and he was shooed to the kitchen to wait while she tended to her patient.

Now she was facing him down and Maes prayed he could be anywhere on Earth besides in that German kitchen. "Why did you bring her here? Isn't there some shelter or home you bring homeless too?"

Maes shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Miss Baum, I'm sorry, you were just the first person I could think of. Surely a few hours in your tender care will be enough. I don't purpose she stay here, just—"

Gracia cut in, "Just what officer?"

_I wanted an excuse to talk to you. _"I… she's very young and vulnerable. I wouldn't trust to leave a naked and unconscious girl in one of those pits. Who knows what would happen to her—"

Maes was interrupted for a second time in as little as a minute, but this time by a yell. He dashed up the stairs with Garcia at his heals. Not knowing what room to open at the top of the stairs, he stood aside let Gracia hurry by. She opened the first one on his right and stormed in. Maes looked over her to see the girl he found earlier on the floor with a blanket wrapped her like as if she expected skin exposure to be lethal. She was on her knees and curled forward, her head bowed and panting.

She kept muttering to herself in a language he didn't understand. Maes half wondered if she was a demon, but no demon would ever look so utterly horrified. Gracia knelt before her, making certain to keep her distance. The moment the strange blonde girl noticed Gracia's presence she froze. Her golden eyes were wide as she stared at Gracia with a peculiar expression. It an instant the girl had thrown herself into Gracia's arms and was sobbing.

Maes leaned against the door frame. She was definitely not a demon.

* * *

Edward couldn't help himself. The stress of it all had just piled up. It was as if the past twenty-four hours were divided up into intense moments that lasted an eternity while in them, and only an instance when looking back. The underground city, Rose's baby, Al, Envy, the gate and now this dream, it was all too much. He was just glad Gracia was here, in the dream with him. If it had been anyone else, he would have to suck it up and be strong.

He didn't feel very strong. Edward felt scared and alone, not certain of who was dead, who was alive and who he even was in those two categories. Was he Edward anymore? His head said yes, but his body clearly stated no. What had happened to him?

It was bizarre and unexplainable, so he let Gracia comfort him in this moment of weakness without thinking. Once he got his emotions out of the way, he could stand back and figure everything out. That's what Edward Elric was good at and known for, figuring things out, and also being loud, but that was another issue.

Edward clutched at her sweater and let her rubbed his back comfortingly. He had forgotten what it was like, to be hugged like this.

An hour later had Edward all cleaned up and in a robe at the kitchen table. Edward didn't trust himself to speak so he just waited and examined what was before him. For a dream or hallucination, everything was quite vivid, not in colour, but in texture. The kitchen walls, floor, table top, they were all real enough at a glance. The tea in front of him gave of heat and a light scent, forcing Edward to believe that for now, this was real enough to matter.

He then turned his attention to the two sitting at the table with him. Edward couldn't get our how real they seemed, Gracia and Maes Hughes. That was hard to swallow. Hughes was dead, yet here he was, fiddling with a spoon nervously. Did that prove Edward's theory of being dead? Maybe he should just ask them? They may know… if they were dead. It sounded incredibly stupid to Ed but it was worth trying.

Ed looked flatly at Hughes, figuring since he's been dead the longest, he would know. "Am I dead?"

Hughes looked up from his spoon and glanced sideways at Gracia. The two exchanged significant glances and remained quiet.

Edward tried again. "Where am I?"

He was answered with baffled looks and silence.

"Answer me, where am I?" He was growing angry now. Why wouldn't they speak? "Gracia? Hughes? What's the matter? Can't you hear me?"

Hughes's eyes grew wide behind his glasses. He leaned forward and spoke curiously but the words were… well they were unrecognizable. Edward suddenly realized that Hughes wasn't speaking Amestrisian.

* * *

Maes blinked when the foreign girl said his name. So she could speak! Maes asked, "What's your name?"

She blinked and took in a deep breath as if she just figured something out. He guessed he should know better than to expect an answer. They were obviously worlds apart and with no clue how to connect. How do you communicated with someone from another country?

A light went off in Hughes's head. One thing that was consistent with travel was locations. Maybe if he named a whole bunch of locations, they might be able to figure out where she's from based on her reaction.

He started with some easy ones to se if she knew anything about the country she was in. "Berlin? Munich? Cologne? No? Okay let's see…"

She was oblivious not German if their largest cities gained no glimmer of recognition. He took in her features. Light hair, fair skin, it was safe to assume she was from Northern Europe. Hughes decided to start with some country capitals, which would easiest.

"How about Paris? Wait no, shit that's south. You're probably from Sweden or something." He stammered.

Gracia smiled and enquired, "Why don't you let me try?"

"Sure," Maes conceded.

Gracia turned her attention back to the very confused looking girl. She cleared her throat and tried her luck. "Copenhagen? Oslo? Göteborg? You know Officer Hughes; I don't think she's from up there. She doesn't have that accent."

"Your right… but what accent does she have?" He turned to her and watched the cogs turn in her head.

The girl interrupted them with an abrupt word. "Amestris?"

Maes was please to find that it at least sounded like a work, maybe even a place. Did that mean she understood what they were doing? Maes shook his head experimentally to see what she would do. She sighed and tapped the table. Well at least there was hope that they may find a common ground. Their body gestures were communicated perfectly, but that could only go so far. Maes and Gracia needed to find out where she lived so that could at least narrow down whatever language she spoke.

* * *

Edward knew what they were doing now, naming places, but none of them sounded familiar. He dared ask about Amestris but only got a shake of Hughes's head. Well so much for that. Ed went through every city and country he knew, but all Hughes did was shake his head over and over. Did that confirm this was a dream or was it…?

A thought struck Edward like a bat. Impulsively he said the only location he knew and had not yet mentioned. "London."

To his horror, both Gracia and Maes looked relieved. London, London, London… he wasn't dreaming after all. He was through the gate, just like when Envy had stabbed him. He was in the parallel from before and that meant he needed to find someone fast.

Squaring his shoulders, Edward asked the question that would verify everything. "Do you know where my father is? Hohenhiem?"

* * *

Author's Note

Ed's off to a bit of a rough start, but things are looking up. At least he has an idea where he is.

Oni


	3. Human Again

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist

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**Human Again **

Edward sat in his room and watched the rain splash against the window sill, not bothering to close the window. The small droplets fell through into the room, like small invaders, touching his bed and soaking his world. He was back on the floor, wasting away in the robe he had been wearing for three days now. If he took it off, he would have to see his misshapen body, the same went for showering.

Ed thought amusedly that if he didn't open his robe, he wouldn't have to deal with what was under the warm fabric. It was just like with his automail, as long as he had long sleeves and gloves, he was normal, like everyone else.

_Don't be stupid, this is different._

Ha! This was so completely different he didn't know where to start. Even if he ignored his newly shaped breasts and hips, this place was more than he could handle. Hughes was alive, Gracia was single and they all spoke this foreign gibberish where the only word that they all knew was 'London'.

"London, London, London… so it wasn't a dream after all. I'm back in this, this… afterlife of which I don't even think exists." Ed leaned back slowly until he was looking at the ceiling with his head resting on the cool wooden floor. His hair pulled uncomfortably so he fanned it out around him before returning his hands to lie on his stomach. "Dad…are you still trapped here, in this absurd world where shadows of people walk around where they have no right to?"

No answer came, but Ed wasn't expecting one. He stretched out his arms and legs, looking as if he were about to make a snow angel but remained still. The ceiling wasn't anything special to look at. It was grey, possibly derived from a distant white colour from ages long past but faded like everything else in that dreary world. Ed examined the walls and even the small painting on the wall. They were all monotonous in contrast as if there was a grey silk screen between his sight and everything else.

"Heh, it's like when you first wake up. Everything is blurry and dull… Does this mean the sun is too sleepy to put things into focus?" Ed paused and sat up abruptly. "That's it! I'm losing my mind. A 'sleeping sun'? HA!"

He ran his two flesh hands through his loose hair and savoured the feeling of it lightly touching his right shoulder. Isn't this what he always wanted, to be whole once more? Did he really expect to make Al whole again without some cost? Being in a strange world would be the price paid for Al and being female was just the price paid for himself. Now everything was even, balanced and equivalent.

"I did it... that's the only reasonable conclusion... I. DID. IT... FUCK YEAH!" Ed grinned and stood up. He did it. He did it. He did it. Ed spun around the room with his arms stretched out. He whirled faster and faster until he was overcome with vertigo and fell back to the floor with a loud thump. His robe fell off his shoulder exposing some of his chest to the window's cold breeze.

"I guess I can't stay in this room forever... or in this robe. Plus, I think I stink," he said to himself, examining his light green robe tie momentarily before letting it fall back to his side. He picked it back up again and gave it a sharp tug, pulling the loose knot free. "It's time to face reality. I never hid from it before and I'm not going to start now."

He walked out of the room and into the empty house. He knew the Gracia who was not Gracia would be in her flower shop, so the coast would be clear. He padded softly down the hall, taking the robe off slowly as he entered the washroom.

It was simple in colour with pale pink flowered wall paper. There was an oval mirror above a simple sink. Ed was happy this house was equipped with what looked like new plumbing pipes and water fixtures. He knew in Amestris a lot of places only had plumbing for the sinks as toilets were still a novelty in. Ed paused while looking at the white toilet and thought he better stop comparing the two places.

There was a large tub with a pipe that had a shower faucet at the end. Ed dropped his robe to the floor and gathered a towel. He draped it over the mirror before he could see himself and stepped into the large tub, another luxury compared to the rest of the house. This Gracia who was not Gracia knew where her money was best invested. The bookshelves were simple, the dishes were plain, but the facilities were the best he had ever seen and well used.

Ed stood there considering the shower nozzle but then smirked. He wasn't in a rush for once. He stepped out of the tub and turned on the hot water to fill it for a nice bath. The small shiny tray the hooked across had an assortment of bottles and a few various textured sponges.

"Which one of you is bath soap," Ed demanded of the collection. He knew bath required a soap like ingredient but it had be ages since he'd last had one. He was used to the dorm showers on base or just rivers. Bathing properly was a comfort he never had time for.

Ed picked up a jar and read the label. It was gibberish just like the language spoken. He grunted and opened the jar to see it was full of pink crystals. Ed gave them a sniff and decided they would do. He poured half the jar in and waited. Nothing happened at first so he reached his hand in and stirred them around. It took only a few large circles before they dissolved, making the water a pink shade that matched the walls. Were baths supposed to be pink?

"Well at least it looks more...bath...ly? I remember _my_ Gracia having these salty things by her tub too so I guess they are a bath... condiment? Whatever, time to stop smelling like old cheese and cotton." And with that, Ed lowered himself slowly into the warm pink water.

It was strangely tingling and he was tempted to jump back out, but decided against it. He was just probably so grungy that the crystals had to work extra hard to clean the dirt layer off to get to the grime underneath, then the dust under that. Eventually, Ed would get to the skin layer again, he knew it.

"Okay, now to catalogue the exact changes. I can't expect to live without knowing my own body," he stated out loud and looked down quickly before returning his eyes back to the wall. "Fuck, why do I feel like a pervert!"

He sank into the water until only his face was above the surface. The tickling crystals were dying down now, leaving him feeling especially clean. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, allowing himself to sink completely. The water cooled around him as he floated back to the surface.

_Okay, okay, I'm not a pervert. This is perfectly normal. People can touch their own bodies as much as they like, so I can too. I'm just checking for wounds... that's it. Fuck, I'm so screwed._

He sat up with a disgruntled sigh. This was ridiculous. He took his hands and deliberately grabbed his breasts. Nothing happened.

"See? Nothing to it." He told the room and squeezed. They felt a weird type of pain as the rough behaviour and the cool air combined to make an entirely new sensation Ed couldn't describe even if he wanted to. Instead he concentrated on what they felt like to his palms.

They were so soft he looked curiously to see if it was in fact his skin. He let go and his hand left red marks. "Okay, lesson one: never squeeze."

His nipples stood erect in the cold air so he flicked one. An almost electric and defiantly painful shock rippled through his nerves and he squinted. "Lesson two: no flicking in the cold, fuck!"

Ed gave his small breasts one final poke and went on to see what else was different. His straight line body was now curved inward under his ribs and then flowing out to his widened hips. He ran his hands up and down these new sloping sides with a critical eye. How was he supposed to wear pants?

He was further confused with how his legs were so thick that the top and gradually came in at the knees. "Lesson three: I'm shaped like a curvy diamond. I guess that's what Havoc was always talking about when he said he liked his women 'hourglassed'. That's all fine and well but how am I supposed to put on pants? They'll never get past my thighs!"

He shivered and deemed it time to get out of the tub. He grabbed a bottle of yet another shade of pink with a dubious eye. "You better be shampoo or I'm going to kick your ass. Got that?"

The bottle showed its submission by easily pouring a small amount of shampoo into his hand. Ed smirked and quickly lathered his hair. He picked up the pitcher on the floor and looked into its empty mouth.

"Damn, how am I supposed to rinse without getting out?" Ed sighed and let his head fall back. The chain from the shower dangled above him and his smirk returned.

Using his toe as to keep most of his body in the cool -but warmer than the air- water, he hooked it in the steel ring. Cold water showered over him with a quick yank of said chain. Ed hastily washed the suds out and pulled the chain again to stop the flow.

Ed stepped out of the tub and said aloud, "There, all clean. I feel more human again already."

Dripping all over the floor, he grabbed the towel from the mirror to dry himself off. A blonde girl looked back at him with a startled expression. His clinical cataloguing of differences suddenly seemed irrelevant as he blinked at a stranger in the looking glass.

She had soft features, high cheekbones and slight traces of baby fat on her face, on the verge of being grown out of. Her hair was lighter and curled slightly at the tips instead of being rigidly straight like his own hair. Her eyelashes were light in colour and swept easily against her checks with each blink. She looked as confused as he felt.

He leaned forward and looked into her eyes. They were paler in hue but still just as sharp, edgy and Ed finally could see himself. It was something he could use to make the connection from this soft looking girl in the mirror to the hard feeling boy in his head. Were they really the same person?

"Who are you?" Ed asked his refection and raised a hand to touch the glass. She matched his movements precisely and met his fingers with her own.

Ed examined her hand and saw that matched his own. He knew he shouldn't be disturbed by that, but seeing this girl that looked more like a sister than a reflection was just too odd.

Ed asked her a second question without expecting an answer. "I should be freaking out, shouldn't I be?"

She waited a moment before smiling at him in a familiar manner, a very _Ed _manner. It was bright, devilish and confident. "You're me, aren't you? I can see it in your eyes. So here's what I think. You _are _me, even if you don't look it. We-I just need to adjust. That's all. Looking like this is nothing if I can be human again. So no more you, me and we, it is just me."

Ed wrapped the towel around his waste and left the washroom, feeling the best he had since arriving in his strange new world.

* * *

Author's Note

Now, we're getting somewhere. This took a while to type out but I hope you enjoy the length. Anywho, I have some midnight TV to watch. Thanks for reading!

Oni


	4. Pansy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist

* * *

**Pansy! **

Ed was reluctantly sitting in the flower shop now, feeling like a damn fool. Gracia had seen him coming out of the shower and now she was taking over his life. Ed had never been so embarrassed before. He couldn't understand a word she was saying, but he knew he was being scowled, somehow. Scowled and then dressed like a child; it wasn't his fault he didn't know how a damn bra worked!

The tiring ordeal of being someone else's doll against his will had turned into a chain of events that included stern mothering and a kitchen spoon that left him, in the flower shop, looking like a fucking girl.

That shouldn't be surprising to him, with the breasts and all, but Ed had no intention of accepting _everything_ that went with the estrogen, like skirts or braids. He was willing to comply with the hips and thighs his own way, in a pair of pants, but Gracia had given him such a odd look when he tried to tie the skirt up into a pair of shorts that he decided against it. He felt odd enough without everyone thinking him crazy.

A smack on the table drew his attention back to the task at hand. Gracia gave him a warm smile but Ed wasn't fooled. For all her warm and gentle look, she was rather scary. Not in a Hawkeye or Winry way, Gracia was scary because it was so unexpected.

She tapped her spoon on the table and pointed at a pansy.

"Stiefmütterchen," she said and then pointed with the spoon at Ed.

He sighed and attempted to repeat the foreign word, "Stiff-muffin-chin."

That was his new mission it seemed, to learn the language by identifying flowers. Edward eyed the pansy and though about how much of a pansy he felt like. His socks were too high, the long skirt didn't stop drafts at all, he missed his boxers and his chest was bound up in bra. It was like female bondage and he was tired of it already.

"I want pants," he whined and rested his head on the table, waiting for the inevitable long suffering sigh from Gracia's double.

He should feel bad, she was trying hard to keep him occupied, but his heart wasn't in it. It was too much change all at once, even for the one and only Edward Elric.

Something was placed on his shoulders and Ed raised his head to see it was...Oh, he knew this one. It was a wrap, shawl, thing... yes it was! Gracia wore a similar one and spoke in soft words. She gestured to the door and Edward grinned in understanding at last, they were going out.

* * *

The cold air whipped around his legs and Edward thought longingly of pants and their shielding comfort. The only thing he was glad of was the sheer number of people around him to block out the wind. That too came with its faults because through the crowded market street he had somehow lost the only person he knew. Ed jumped up several times but could not even hope to see over the hustling and bustling heads that flooded around him.

He wrapped his shawl closer to fight off the cold and thought about undoing his hair to keep the back of his neck warm when he heard a small yelp. Unable to let that go as a trick of the wind, Ed peered around to find its source. HE could almost see a narrow alleyway through the breaks in between groups of people and Ed figured it came from there. He pushed and shoved his small body through until he reach the mouth of the dark passageway.

It felt it was a world apart from the busy market place. The loud merchants hocking their wares suddenly seemed very far away as Ed took a step in his too large boots. He couldn't see anything but there was a sharp turn up ahead and instincts earned from years of living out of trains and strange cities told him the noise came from just beyond the corner.

A severely cold gust billowed around him, flapping his skirt like a flag and reminding him that this wasn't the same as before. He couldn't handle whatever was behind that corner because he didn't have the support of his automail, his alchemy, his brother or even his normal strength. All that was gone now, leaving behind a pale, pretty but fragile girl who looked similar to the man he used to be.

Another yelp and a sob broke his hesitation. Ed tied the shawl in a knot around his waist to free his arms and took that fateful step around the corner. What he saw was horrible and made him bare his teeth subconsciously. Four men of various hateful sizes were bent over something in a purple skirt that was most definitely not the abused animal Ed had expected.

"Leave her alone," he shouted at them then paused. Why was he expecting his deeper and more intimidating voice to sound out?

Instead of looking threatened, or even surprised, the men looking positively excited and thrilled to see Ed. His confidence was rapidly falling away like the tattered remains of incinerated clothing. The pissed and angry expressions Ed was used to when he did something like this were nowhere to be found and instead replaced with something akin to hunger that made Ed want to run for all he was worth.

It was then that two of the men moved and Ed was able to catch a glimpse of the victim in the purple skirt. She blinked at him with wide doe eyes and Ed knew he couldn't just leave her. She was quivering like a rabbit in a snare and Ed grimaced at how appropriate the analogy was.

The largest man said something in a sickeningly slimy voice that made Ed realise that two of the other men had moved closer to him. He spread his legs in a fighter's stance while his insides scream over and over that he couldn't possibly fight all four on his own. The final man was still holding the girl down with one hand and lifted her skirt with the other, gingerly viewing his prize, his prey.

"Don't you fucking touch her," Ed snarled and pointed with his right. The man to his left took that opportunity to grab his other hand and bend it painfully behind his back.

Ed yelped and threw a wild punch with his right hand somewhere behind him. His glee at hitting the man's face evaporated when the man laughed and picked him up without problems, hugging Ed close like a rag doll.

Fuck this wasn't good, he was already trapped and without an escape plan. The situation rapidly grew worse when the first man, the largest one, dipped close in front of him and licked the side of Ed's face with a devilish grin. Instead of grimace or quiver like the purple skirted girl, Ed caught the man by surprise with a high kick that met his nose with a resounding crunch. Ed pushed aside his thoughts of victory when the man holdings him off the ground twisted his arm further, causing Ed to bark a curse.

A blood soaked face shoved itself into his with an ugly look. Ed's heart tried to beat out of his chest with panic when and equally bloody hand tore open the front of his shirt to expose his undershirt to the world, which was quickly cut open with precision only earned through practise and experience. This was something new and Ed's breaths can in shallow pants. They weren't hurting him like he expected but that didn't mean he was safe, not by any means. The knife flashed again and his bra was easily sliced and fell away. Ed couldn't tear his eyes away from the bloody hand now lightly caressing his soft breast, leaving a red line in its wake. It was a frozen and sick sort of fascination to watch one's self about to be violated.

It was so bizarre because in Ed's mind, it wasn't his soft and squishy body he was looking down at. That arm around his belly holding him up, that was holding someone else. This wasn't real. He was Ed Elric for fuck's sake. Ed Elric was a boy, fuck no, he was a goddamn man in the Amestrian military. He was a State Alchemist. He was in prime physical condition. He was...he was... holy shit, he was going to be raped.

That struck a chord that released him from his fear addled paralysis. Ed raised both his feet and kicked hard on his offenders chest. The man fell back on his ass and Ed booted him again in the face. The man holding his up griped tighter but Ed wiggled like wet fish and managed to free his trapped right hand. He pinched a pressure point in the man's neck that made him drop Ed like a sack of hammers. Ed landed on the ground and quickly rolled into his crouch.

The pressure point pain stopped the moment he removed his fingers, so the man wasn't inhibited in any way. Ed began his attack circle and the man followed suit. Moving gave him opportunity to spot the two remaining thugs. Ed felt his hair on the back of his neck stand on end when he saw one man standing guard while the other undid his pants.

This was so fucking over now.

Ed yelled out to the man by the girl to make him turn around. "Hey, Stiefmütterchen!"

Ed grabbed the small blade that had been tossed aside when he knocked its owner unconscious and did something that even surprised himself. Ed threw the knife with alarming ease into the throat of the man with his fly down. Blood flooded and spurted out of his neck while he choked to death, gagging in a wet disgusting way. Ed and the last two aggressors just watched in communal shock.

It wasn't his first time throwing a knife, it was the only time he'd used one as a weapon. Ed remembered those long and boring nights he had spent with his brother on that small island back when they were earning the right to learn alchemy. They had been given a medium size hunting knife to protect them one that blasted island and by the end of thirty days, Ed was able to toss it easily, hitting snakes as if they were the board to his 'dart'. After getting automail, Ed had stopped carrying a knife on him, for his arm was the only blade he needed, but as evident by the man with the blood spout coming out of his neck, Ed still had the skill in spades.

The revelation that he wasn't entirely helpless empowered him to dash forward and leap onto the man closest to the purple skirt. Ed trapped him into a choked hold by locking his joints. The man turned blue as he stumbled around, clawing Ed's tender arms. He waddled to close to a wall and Ed used it to kick off of and knock them both to the ground. Ed rolled back to his feet and then jumped squarely onto the man's chest, cracking his ribs and bouncing off the launch a flying kick at the remaining man.

His leg was solidly caught in mid air and the man swung him like a bat into a dumpster. The reverberations rattled his whole body and made Ed's teeth chatter. Blood trickled down Ed's chin and his head swam. With his mind currently unable to process what was going on, he wondered why the world was suddenly the wrong way and why his ankle felt like it was going to be squeezed off. The edges of his vision were growing fuzzy and Ed grimaced at the familiar series of events about to take place because they happened to him all the times before when he was about to pass out.

A loud bang echoed through his head, causing him to nearly curl into ball, even as he was dropped to the ground. Slamming into the cold concert was both painful and alerting. Ed used the sudden pain to wake himself up and look around. The man who looked a lot like Maes Hughes was standing in a strange dark uniform and with an even darker look in his eyes. Two men ran out from behind him with clubs and handcuffs. Ed would have liked to see what happened next, but the doe eyed purple skirt girl knelt in front of him and place a gentle hand on his cheek.

She had tears streaming down her face, but she looked somewhat relieved at the turn of events. She spoke in a language he could understand while her hand made no move to retreat from his cheek. "Thank you. My name is Noah."

* * *

Author's Note

This chapter was exhilarating to write. It took several tries before I got it the way I liked it but I'm pleased, at long last, with the results. I was hoping wmc would be around to joyessly bother with my jubilant chapter of... joy! Yeah, I only managed a two J chain, but you know what, enJOY the chapter and leave my vocabulary alone. --laughs and leaves--

Oni


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